Improvement in processes for lasting boots and shoes



WwlcKf-ZRSHAMS mmm/ED PROCES-s FUR LASYHNG BOOTS ANU SHOES-,

Bumm) AUG i252 1871 PATENT OFFICE.

l i l WILLIAM WIOKERSHAM, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

IMPROVEMENT IN PROCESSES FOR LASTING BOOTS AND SHOES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 118,319, dated August 22, 1871.

To all whom it may concern:

Be'it known that I, WVILLIAM WrcKERsr-IAM, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented anew and useful Process or Method of Lasting Shoes and Boots; and I do hereby declare that the Afollowin g is a full and exact description thereof, reference being had to the annexed drawing and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

My invention relates mainly to a process or method of lasting a kind of boots and shoes already patented by me, in which the sole has a slit made entirely around and in the edge of it, and then these split portions a-re opened out at right angles, or nearly so, to the plane of the sole, one portion being bent down and the other up in such manner that, (when it is properly placed on the bottom of the last and the upper is placed upon the upper part of said last, it may be presented to the split`r surfaces of the two parts of the sole separ'ated,la11d, when the sole and uppel1 are so placed on the last, I sew stitches into the edge of the upper leather around the toe and heel, and so draw on the thread at each stitch as to cause the edge of the upper at the place of the stitch to be drawn close up a ga-inst the split surfaces of the sole, separated as above stated, so that whenthese stitches are taken in the edge ofthe upper around the toe and heel of the boot the leather will be so fulled or gathered at the heel and toe that a sea-m may readily be sewed through the upper and the one part of the sole split from the other, as described, all the way around the shoe or boot.

Referring to the drawing, Figure l is a shoe `with the sole sewed on, trimmed, and the last taken out, but before it has been turned. Fig. 2 is a side View of a shoe lasted by my process, showing the thread sewed into the edge of the upper leather and so drawn as to full or gather the upper leather against the edge of the sole around the heel and toe after the said sole has been split and opened, as described. Fig. 3 givesa bottom view of the same. Fig. 4. is a longitudinal and perpendicular section of the same.

a is the sole. b is the upper. c c, Svc., is the thread or stitches by which the upper is drawn up close to the edge of the sole, around the heel and toe. d is the last. e e are the two iiangelike portions of the edge of the sole after having been split and separated, as previously described. fj'f, 85e., a-re dotted lines, showing the place where the sea-m is to be sewed which attaches the upper to the sole. g g g are small tacks by which the sole is attached to Athe last.

In lasting a shoe or boot by my method I usually open or separa-te the two parts of `the split edge of the sole after it has been placed on the last, then apply the upper, then take stitches in the edge of the upper, and so draw lon the thread while taking the stitches as to gather the upper b around the toe and heel of the shoe close to the split parts e e of the edge f the` sole a., and when this is done it is ready for the seam in the position j' f f, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, and the lasting of the shoe is completed.

This process requires less time than lasting by any-machinery which I have yet seen. It only requires afew seconds to run the necessary stitch es in the edge of the upper leather around the toe, thereby gathering it up against thetedge of the sole, and it is completely ready for the seam. It looks, indeed, like a very simple process, yet in that simplicity and the quickness and completeness ofthe work consists its great value.

I do not claim as any part of my invention, in lasting a boot or shoe, drawing the edge of the upper over the bottom surface of the last or insole by taking stitches in it, or havin g the threads of said stitches extend from one side to the other over the bottom surface of said last, as that has already been done.

Having described my invention, I will state my claim as follows: p

A process of lasting a boot or shoe, which consists, first, in applying a sole which has been split in the edge and opened to the bottom of the last; second, in gathering or falling the edge of the upper by means of stitches in the same, thereby drawing it close to the open split edge of the sole preparatory to the attachment of said sole to the upper, as shown and for the purpose set forth.

WILLIAM VICKERSHAM.

Witnesses:

CHARLEs M. HEATON, Jos. A. DEEBLE. 

